THE PRESIDENT: A few months ago, in response to too many tragedies — including the shootings of a United States Congresswoman, Gabby Giffords, who’s here today, and the murder of 20 innocent schoolchildren and their teachers –- this country took up the cause of protecting more of our people from gun violence.

Families that know unspeakable grief summoned the courage to petition their elected leaders –- not just to honor the memory of their children, but to protect the lives of all our children. And a few minutes ago, a minority in the United States Senate decided it wasn’t worth it. They blocked common-sense gun reforms even while these families looked on from the Senate gallery.

By now, it’s well known that 90 percent of the American people support universal background checks that make it harder for a dangerous person to buy a gun. We’re talking about convicted felons, people convicted of domestic violence, people with a severe mental illness. Ninety percent of Americans support that idea. Most Americans think that’s already the law.

And a few minutes ago, 90 percent of Democrats in the Senate just voted for that idea. But it’s not going to happen because 90 percent of Republicans in the Senate just voted against that idea.

A majority of senators voted “yes” to protecting more of our citizens with smarter background checks. But by this continuing distortion of Senate rules, a minority was able to block it from moving forward.

I’m going to speak plainly and honestly about what’s happened here because the American people are trying to figure out how can something have 90 percent support and yet not happen. We had a Democrat and a Republican -– both gun owners, both fierce defenders of our Second Amendment, with “A” grades from the NRA — come together and worked together to write a common-sense compromise on background checks. And I want to thank Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey for their courage in doing that. That was not easy given their traditional strong support for Second Amendment rights.

As they said, nobody could honestly claim that the package they put together infringed on our Second Amendment rights. All it did was extend the same background check rules that already apply to guns purchased from a dealer to guns purchased at gun shows or over the Internet. So 60 percent of guns are already purchased through a background check system; this would have covered a lot of the guns that are currently outside that system.

Their legislation showed respect for gun owners, and it showed respect for the victims of gun violence. And Gabby Giffords, by the way, is both — she’s a gun owner and a victim of gun violence. She is a Westerner and a moderate. And she supports these background checks.

In fact, even the NRA used to support expanded background checks. The current leader of the NRA used to support these background checks. So while this compromise didn’t contain everything I wanted or everything that these families wanted, it did represent progress. It represented moderation and common sense. That’s why 90 percent of the American people supported it.

But instead of supporting this compromise, the gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill. They claimed that it would create some sort of “big brother” gun registry, even though the bill did the opposite. This legislation, in fact, outlawed any registry. Plain and simple, right there in the text. But that didn’t matter.

And unfortunately, this pattern of spreading untruths about this legislation served a purpose, because those lies upset an intense minority of gun owners, and that in turn intimidated a lot of senators. And I talked to several of these senators over the past few weeks, and they’re all good people. I know all of them were shocked by tragedies like Newtown. And I also understand that they come from states that are strongly pro-gun. And I have consistently said that there are regional differences when it comes to guns, and that both sides have to listen to each other.

But the fact is most of these senators could not offer any good reason why we wouldn’t want to make it harder for criminals and those with severe mental illnesses to buy a gun. There were no coherent arguments as to why we wouldn’t do this. It came down to politics — the worry that that vocal minority of gun owners would come after them in future elections. They worried that the gun lobby would spend a lot of money and paint them as anti-Second Amendment.

And obviously, a lot of Republicans had that fear, but Democrats had that fear, too. And so they caved to the pressure, and they started looking for an excuse — any excuse — to vote “no.”

One common argument I heard was that this legislation wouldn’t prevent all future massacres. And that’s true. As I said from the start, no single piece of legislation can stop every act of violence and evil. We learned that tragically just two days ago. But if action by Congress could have saved one person, one child, a few hundred, a few thousand — if it could have prevented those people from losing their lives to gun violence in the future while preserving our Second Amendment rights, we had an obligation to try.

And this legislation met that test. And too many senators failed theirs.

I’ve heard some say that blocking this step would be a victory. And my question is, a victory for who? A victory for what? All that happened today was the preservation of the loophole that lets dangerous criminals buy guns without a background check. That didn’t make our kids safer. Victory for not doing something that 90 percent of Americans, 80 percent of Republicans, the vast majority of your constituents wanted to get done? It begs the question, who are we here to represent?

I’ve heard folks say that having the families of victims lobby for this legislation was somehow misplaced. “A prop,” somebody called them. “Emotional blackmail,” some outlet said. Are they serious? Do we really think that thousands of families whose lives have been shattered by gun violence don’t have a right to weigh in on this issue? Do we think their emotions, their loss is not relevant to this debate?

So all in all, this was a pretty shameful day for Washington.

But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence, so long as the American people don’t give up on it. Even without Congress, my administration will keep doing everything it can to protect more of our communities. We’re going to address the barriers that prevent states from participating in the existing background check system. We’re going to give law enforcement more information about lost and stolen guns so it can do its job. We’re going to help to put in place emergency plans to protect our children in their schools.

But we can do more if Congress gets its act together. And if this Congress refuses to listen to the American people and pass common-sense gun legislation, then the real impact is going to have to come from the voters.

To all the people who supported this legislation — law enforcement and responsible gun owners, Democrats and Republicans, urban moms, rural hunters, whoever you are — you need to let your representatives in Congress know that you are disappointed, and that if they don’t act this time, you will remember come election time.

To the wide majority of NRA households who supported this legislation, you need to let your leadership and lobbyists in Washington know they didn’t represent your views on this one.

The point is those who care deeply about preventing more and more gun violence will have to be as passionate, and as organized, and as vocal as those who blocked these common-sense steps to help keep our kids safe. Ultimately, you outnumber those who argued the other way. But they’re better organized. They’re better financed. They’ve been at it longer. And they make sure to stay focused on this one issue during election time. And that’s the reason why you can have something that 90 percent of Americans support and you can’t get it through the Senate or the House of Representatives.

So to change Washington, you, the American people, are going to have to sustain some passion about this. And when necessary, you’ve got to send the right people to Washington. And that requires strength, and it requires persistence.

And that’s the one thing that these families should have inspired in all of us. I still don’t know how they have been able to muster up the strength to do what they’ve doing over the last several weeks, last several months.

And I see this as just round one. When Newtown happened, I met with these families and I spoke to the community, and I said, something must be different right now. We’re going to have to change. That’s what the whole country said. Everybody talked about how we were going to change something to make sure this didn’t happen again, just like everybody talked about how we needed to do something after Aurora. Everybody talked about we needed change something after Tucson.

And I’m assuming that the emotions that we’ve all felt since Newtown, the emotions that we’ve all felt since Tucson and Aurora and Chicago — the pain we share with these families and families all across the country who’ve lost a loved one to gun violence — I’m assuming that’s not a temporary thing. I’m assuming our expressions of grief and our commitment to do something different to prevent these things from happening are not empty words.

I believe we’re going to be able to get this done. Sooner or later, we are going to get this right. The memories of these children demand it. And so do the American people.

To My President Mr. Obama; Dear sir i voted for you an will stand by you sir,but with just this one thing please Sir! What give you or any one the right to take away from Good Americans as my self an others the right that our FATHER"S before You me an many others,the amendments that where set in place so we would never be unequal to any one Friend or foe, Guns, an what have you. This is an out rage, "BUT", I can understand that many need to be looked over by some one or tested on where or not there crews are all tight, (Had to put some funny in there to break the ice) By lets say a shrink, My DI . But to tell me an others that are sound they can not have this type of fire arm or so much ammo, when Police can an FBI, CIA, an a host of others working for this great USA. Well sir I must be honest to you Sir. THAT IS WRONG AN YOU SIR SHOULD RETHINK THIS THIS GUN THING! The time the Mother has a kid that has a problem in the head an she teaches him at home an the whole town ,or city know that he has this problem, an on top of it she takes him to the range an shows about guns! Well you tell it is the kids fault?? WRONG it was the whole city's FAULT BECAUSE THEY ALL KNEW AN THE WRITING WAS ON THE WALL THE WHOLE TIME, Sir! Yes parents need to be looked over because that is where it does come from. I love you as My President an always will SIR! But I will stand away from you if you think you are going to take what I an many others have earned, an think you are going say well that is my will an it will be done! Then Sir I feel real sorry for you to think one person can snap there fingers an that it . You are only human an I hope you will see, RETHINKING this over with others that do like it an don't like your decision. OUR FATHERS GAVE US GOOD AMERICANS THAT RIGHT, YOU WILL NEVER TAKE THAT FROM THE GOOD AMERICANS, most Important US THAT FOUGHT WHEN WE KNEW IT WAS WRONG! Think about THAT! Thank yu Mr. Obama My President of The United States Of America!

How STUPID would a person have to be,in order to attempt to purchase a firearm from somewhere that involves a background check.........(When they have a criminal record that would prevent them from buying the gun?) I guess my next question would be ..........how effective are background checks in keeping guns out of the hands of criminals who can't own a fire arm?? If someone would dare say "well...........the background checks are very effective!!" Then again,I would have to ask"How stupid can a criminal get"? I mean it's not like,someone who has a count of armed robbery is actually going to waltz on in to a gun shop & attempt to purchase a gun? Or is it?

Please that think banding guns is the answer is stupid. Look at history and see what happens when governments band guns next comes the mass killings, reeducation camps, forced slavery. Search the Internet for mass graves, coffin, and reeducation camps. Why do we need these facilities and items? Who are they for? Why isnt the main stream news taking about these issues? Gun control is being used to distract the general public while they prepare for your death. NATO/UN is driving this one world order, and in their plan they are planning to kill off 6.5 billion people worldwide. If you have been given an invitation you are on the list of people that will die. It doesn't matter what is you political views. Has anyone ever wondered why none of the bodies of those kids were ever shown on the nightly news? The solution is to prevent people with felonies from getting their hands on guns and if they get caught with guns they should be shot by law enforcement, that way they cannot comment crimes or break the law anymore. Too many people think they are above the law. These people need to be forced to follow the law. Same goes for people involved in the trafficking and selling of illegal drugs. This world would be a much better place with these types of people. People need to learn to love thu neighbor and stop being hateful. People now days only care about drugs, drinking sex, and material things - guns dont kill people do!!.

US was the country i used to look up to...i used to wonder when my country would ever come close to being like it. now though i wonder how foolish u people are. have u even looked around before blabbering that more strict laws wouldnt work?

countries which have these laws dont seem to have tragedies like the one in newton town..simply because its so difficult to get a license so people are actually safer. you guys are being manipulated by stupid organisations like the NRA...my question to u americans...how stupid are u guys actually...the evidence is out there..better laws means less tragedies..yes it wont prevent everyone of em bt atleast it will reduce it..if in the face of so blatant proof like every other country is providing u n u sti lhave the guts to say that more strict rules wudnt work...then you are absolute idiots

You know, I'm a pretty damn liberal democrat. However, I am glad that the bill didn't pass. There is absolutely no evidence that this bill will prevent any more tragedies, it will only make it more difficult for upstanding citizens to defend themselves from people who do not get guns through the legal route. Oh, you're a gang member with assault charges and schizophrenia? You're not supposed to have a gun! Meanwhile the nurse being raped doesn't have a gun because she happened to be in counseling freshman year of high school. These gun laws aren't going to work.

Funny how the President wins and its a great thing for the country. But when he loses well it suddenly becomes a travesty of monumental proportions. Sounds like sour grapes from someone whos never been told NO!

SO happy they didn't get this passed! We need to stay strong when it comes to our constitutional rights and not be blindsighted by what the government wants us to think. Free thinkers helped keep this bill from being passed and thank goodness! I thank the minority in the senate that kept this from passing. I feel that if the majority of people had wanted this reform that the opposing senate would have wanted to pass the bill to keep their voters and support. Keep on Keepin on free thinkers!!

I am sick of people who would rather see folks die than to support the good sound policies our wonderful president recommends. These sorry people are doing all of this crazy junk due to their racist attitudes. These narrowed minded people just want President Obama to fail. Well most of the people like him. So you terrible people just need to get over it. You all need to pray to God so He can help you overcome your bias.

So 90% of the American public opposed Obamacare, but he got it pushed through with closed-door meetings, back-room deals (that had to be rescinded. I'm sure Nebraska, LA, and others are still seething about that), and bussing in nearly dead senators from the hospital to vote. I don't know where he got this figure of 90% of Americans supported his gun bill -- I haven't seen that reflected anywhere -- but he lost. How can that be?

Despite what the speech above may overtly say the President is using these victims, all be it willingly on the victims part. If you're not using them to gain Political leverage why have them up there at all?

Additionally, there have already been several cases in which background checks, specifically to mental capacity have resulted in wrongful confiscation of firearms, recently one in NY and another in Colorado Springs for inept Law Enforcement regarding open carry.

There are more than enough Americans who want to defend their own homeland, reinstate a Militia under the supervision of Local Law Agencies and utilize our Second Amendment instead of stifling it.

@JohnnieTillery-Eiland What a typical liberal, you lose and find out that the "90" stat was a lie and now all of a sudden it is because people are "racist" and not that this president is worthless,useless, and a failure as president. Obama is a failure and it has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with his socialistic unconstitutional America hating policies.

If you are so bent on saving as many lives as possible, then I propose to you that you go right ahead and throw away your car keys. As a matter of fact, we should probably just do away with cars all together as they are the cause of so many needless deaths, including children.... Now, before you get all bent out of shape... do i actually think we should do away with motorized transportation? Of course not. It's just not realistic. We are not people who "would rather see folks die." If you truly think that, your ignorance knows no bounds.

I haven't seen God on the Presidents approval ratings but I know he doesn't have to public support from the recent polls. Also not sure if God would approve of the number of victims in Afghanistan from the President's drone strike. But it's ok because we are all Christians and they started it.

90 percent? Actually that figure was closer to 43 percent were not in favor of Obama Care. Obviously those who were against it, are not members of the medical community, nor were they properly informed.

Next, crazy people should not have guns...... It's NOT infringing on anyone's rights. Polls DO state that if it were put in front of America to vote on it WOULD be passed. The problem is that the congress has a very special interest in gun laws, as they have been given very large contributions and stocks.

@LisaBeinLisa I would like to see a system where each American was able to vote on every issue, with technology today it could be accomplished easily, something as simple as using your drivers license to submit a vote online or via some secure source. The only problem would be keeping the results honest and ensuring the out come of those vote were being portrayed accurately.

"Perhaps helping explain Democrats' problems, an AP-GfK poll this month showed that 49 percent of Americans support stricter gun laws. That was down from 58 percent who said so in January -- a month after the December killings of 20 children and six aides at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school propelled gun violence into a national issue. Family members of Newtown victims, some tearing up after the vote, also criticized the Senate for the amendment's failure Wednesday. " (Not 90 percent, as the President stated)

"Kaiser, a non-profit organization that conducts totally nonpartisan polls on health matters and therefore gives a highly-respected public’s opinion on health care issues, reveals after three years of Obamacare there are only 37 percent of Americans who approve of the all-encompassing bill’s passage at this time. Along political lines 68 percent of Republicans have an unfavorable impression of Obamacare, 58 percent of Democrats have a favorable impression, and – among the deciding non-big political party supporters – the Independents surveyed reveals that only 31 percent of them have a favorable view of the law while 45 percent do not like it or want it. "

It's obvious the president does not care what the majority of people in this country want.

Lol, darn us and are war on verbs. Labeling others actions as acts of terror is what is enabling our government to take action without approval. And yes a Militia will work. Only difference is the "Indians" and "red coats" are in business suits

@LisaBeinLisa We can not allow EVERYONE to vote, because the fact of the matter is, that MOST Americans don't even have the tiniest clue as to what the Constitution says, means, and most certainly what is represents. Not to mention, they have no clue what laws are already in place. So, if everyone voted on this issue, "ABOUT 90 PERCENT" of Americans would be doing nothing but proving their ignorance.

@LisaBeinLisa My husband is a gun smith, gun saleman, and obviously we are both gun owners... While you are correct about the lack of background checks performed by people who are selling guns out of the trunk of their cars in the parking lot at these gun shows. the people who have Federal Fire-arms Licenses who set up inside, DO IN FACT CONDUCT BACKGROUND CHECKS, as does my husband for ALL weapon transfers sent to his shop from people who HAVE bought guns on the internet because the law REQUIRES it, and there is no way for the gun buyer to obtain an internet purchased gun UNLESS the seller takes it to an FFL dealer and has it SHIPPED to ANOTHER FFL dealer. In which the background check IS performed by that dealer in the purchasers area............Not to mention as far as your next post, Obama only has community ties, WHAT SO EVER, with families that benefit HIS WANTS and NOT with the people who are law-abiding citizens, who happen to own guns. In fact, he's NEVER knocked on MY door, and asked MY opinion, or anyone else I know... Has he ever knocked on your door and asked YOUR opinion??? Now the answer to that is obviously NO, because you don't very likely have over $1 million, to contribute to his "administration." Or maybe to just his pockets, whatever he may feel doing with it that day.

Obama has actually had strong community ties and a family focus way before he even got in to office. I do not agree with everything he does, I do think he should be stronger in his position and start putting the congress in check. But the Obamas are a family focused administration. And in fact has progressed our country through a a very rough few years, even when everyone was against him. Public approval goes up and down, but the majority did re-elect him.

I do understand what you are saying, however, the biggest difference between the families of these shooting and our beloved heroes ....is just that..... One side is a victim, the other side are heroes. These children are not trained, they do not sign up and knowingly go in to battle. I have only respect and love for our troops and their families..... These children....our children are the very thing they fight so hard everyday to protect. I personally do not believe in war, however know that it is very needed to protect our way of life, just as doing background checks on gun sales online and at gun shows. these families had actually worked on this bill, which is why Obama kept them in his mention. there is a law in place, however that law does not cover those two particular areas, therefore, the "bad guys" are going to the unregulated places to get them. This is not a fix all approach ....but anything that makes it a little harder is worth it. I am a gun owner as well, I passed a background check and had no problem with the process. However......I also know that I could go buy 50 guns at a gun show or online and sale them on the streets and no one would know. That's the type of thing this law would stop. People will still find a way..... But this makes it at least one step harder.

@LisaBeinLisa I think its great he meets with these families and tries to help them, I just wish he wouldn't parade them on a stage. If he wants to do this I think it should be equal across the board. We dont see the families of the soldiers who died in Afganistan whenever he talks about our progress over there. He's working an agenda, and the only difference between now and then is he's lost some of his Hitler like hypnotic suggestion through public speaking from poor performance in office. He's trying to sway public opinion by working the value of family. In my eyes that losses credibility. We have a President in name only, he's not a leader of men, he is a politician. Which is not to say that other before him dont fall into the same category.

Please let's remember the republicans in congress are the ONLY ones to be fact checked thus far...... I would like to see proof of him pulling it out of the air. The difference between them and Obama is that Obama actually DOES spend time with people ....... And not just the ones who can fill his pockets

Thank you, Asteroidjesus. This is actually a very good source, especially if you click on the link in the first comment, where the poster says "I think this is where that figure came from" you get references to actual polls, what question was asked, and the results. A whole lot more information than "....ONE poll showing that 90% of Americans backing the idea" that the CSM prints. And the responses are much less than 90% in favor of anything, one way or the other. And there is a heck of a lot of difference in the time frame between "in the wake of the shooting" and what the polls are reporting NOW, at the time of the president's sweeping statement.

@mantisdragon91@MaidInAmerica Hey check it out I can paste link to my side of the argument too. I do find it a little funny that the President is so concerned with gun control now when he gave so many away to the Mexican Cartels

I did exaggerate. I did admit to this when I pulled the actual poll figures and posted them. Obama has not admitted to exaggeration with his 90% figure, and as not posted any information to support his figure. So if he started his speech with a blatant lie, why should anything else he says be taken seriously?

I don't believe it is "more right" for the President of the United States to stand up and purposefully mislead, lie to, and belittle the American people than it is for anyone else.

@MaidInAmerica@mantisdragon91 Yet again you claimed 90% for opposing Obamacare, while disputing 90% who are in favor of background checks. When you start the conversation with a blatant lie, why should anything else you say be taken seriously?

Okay, so it was only 63% . Hardly a number to sneeze at in a democracy, don't you think? Yet it was passed after promises of "transparency" and "the full bill will be posted on the Internet" were replaced by Pelosi's "We have to pass the bill first and then you can find out what's in it." My main point being, the President accused the gun bill's opponents of "willfully lying", and stated that 90% of the American people wanted this bill passed, a figure he obviously pulled out of thin air. Not even a MAJORITY of people supported this bill. But he has never cared what the majority wants.

I do agree with you on this point as well, what I don't agree with is the definition "terrorism" as used today or going to war in a country to uproot these individual cells. A recent news article cites about 45 but this list includes such cases as children hack Gov websites

Back to topic tho, gun ban. There will be a day when our power and Government will fail. Invasion of any country is going to happen, maybe not in my life time but who knows. When that does happen the President will be glad that everyone at least had the option to take up arms and defend their own families

@Asteroidjesus And yet again, if one allows terror cells to grow and fester like we did in Afghanistan the results will be much, much worse. And how can you claim its not working? Do you have any idea how many possible attacks against this country were averted?

I don't feel wasting money and man power chasing ghost is working, Look at the domestic terrorism we all are experiencing now in Boston how did a war on "terror" help prevent this. By giving power to ordinary people you create less victims. Like teaching defensive martial arts to women to prevent sexual assualt victims. 3000 victims is terrible but small considering the 313,914,040 citizens listed from the census bureau

The events leading up to this one event? People died and its sad but in perspective to US as a whole the damage is minimal. Do you personally feel the effects of the death of the subway bombings in Britain? Countries everywhere experience these isolated acts of murder. Lumping them together and labeling them doesn't increase their importance and make them preventable

It's not related, that's the point. How does "terror" effect our global interest? We give far too much credit to misfit criminal organizations around the world. And we let it slide cause Americans like to have a face to blame

Really??? I don't seem to remember there being 343 National Guard members who died on 9-11 trying to save innocent victims from the REAL terrorists. those were ALL firefighters! And 172 police officers that died that day were also NOT National Guard members. And the 94 paramedics weren't either! So, I don't know for sure HOW MANY "National Guard" members died that day, or if there were even ANY that died, but they were most certainly NOT "the first ones out," or the ones helping victims. And it has been PROVEN in numerous studies that the American public, is MUCH MORE proficient in tactics, marksmenship, and much better armed (with the exception of heavy artillary and drones) than the U.S. Armed Forces and ALL U.S. Law Enforcement Agencies combined.

Yes I agree with you here, but a mission oriented group of citizens could be more effective. The war for Independence would not have been won if not for a mission oriented militia defending there family